Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 — #PA, #Genealogy, #Jewish

by C. Michael Eliasz-Solomon

Ancestry.com in a partnership with one of Stanczyk’s favorite Genealogy/History Libraries in the USA – Historical Society of Pennsylvania –
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699

Published data: “Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”.

Contrary to what you might think from the title, included amongst the denominations of material are Jewish Collections. My wife’s family has connection to two of Philadelphia’s oldest synagogues: Mikveh Israel & Rodeph Shalom which are in this new Ancestry database. While the resources lack what we are looking for in this new database, it is still encouraging to see some HSP collections in Ancestry.com. I still prefer to go to the HSP in person — what a resource for genealogists who have ancestors from the earliest days of colonial America.

The moral of this story is not to just accept (or reject) a database on the basis of its name. Look deeper!